Hey people, we did it again. Grateful We're Not Dead were back on the E-Lectic radio. Talk about getting our fifteen minutes of fame.

This time we appeared on the CBC Radio One show Bandwidth, hosted by Alan Neal. As loyal readers of this blog know (all tens and tens of you), an interview with Grateful We're Not Dead was broadcast on January 5, 2009 on the CBC Radio One show All In A Day, hosted by Adrian Harewood. Following that broadcast, CBC reporter Julie Ireton contacted us to say that Alan wanted to use Over Sixty Blues on a Bandwidth show he was preparing on Blues You Can Use. So Grateful We're Not Dead got out the beer and the Diet Pepsi, sat down around the dining room table, switched on the digital recorder and laid down a version to email to Alan.

Now we figured at most a portion of the song might be played during the show. Imagine our surprise when we heard Alan and Julie doing an introduction of the band including some of the original interview and another Grateful We're Not Dead song, At Least Once Every Minute. If you missed the broadcast you can hear the relevant part by clicking on the play button below.

We'd like to give a big Grateful We're Not Dead hug and thank you to Julie for the interest she's shown in the band and to Alan for including Over Sixty Blues on Bandwith. And to both of them for the great introduction on the show.

After this we'll be able to double our price: now it'll be two beers (or Diet Pepsi) each for doing a performance.

And as a bit of clarification, only Gord and Don have 60 in their rear view mirror. But I want Bruce and Al, the youngsters in the group, to remember this: If you think pushing 60 is hard, wait until you start pulling it.

Grateful We're Not Dead has finally decided to face the threat of spam and make an email address available for anyone wishing to contact us. Instead of having to leave a comment on the blog in order to get in touch you can send an email to:

Grateful We're Not Dead have finally made it onto the E-lectric radio. Fame and fortune is just around the corner for sure.

On November 9 as we were preparing to perform at the Canadian Future Achievers awards banquet we were interviewed by CBC reporter, Julie Ireton. Late last week I received an email informing me that the interview would be aired this week on Adrian Harewood's All In A Day. Sure enough, on January 5, 2009 at 4:46PM EST there we were, the fabulous four in all our glory, coursing out over the airwaves and the Internet for the world to hear. For those of you unfortunate (or possibly, fortunate) enough to miss such a momentous event, we've made this historical broadcast available for eternity via DivShare. Just click on the play button below and enjoy.

By the way, if you can't listen to the broadcast it's likely because we've exceeded our 10GB/month download limit. However, I think the chances of that are pretty slim. If that starts to happen, we'll upgrade our account.

A big thank you to Julie for tracking us down and preparing the material for broadcast. Thank you, also, to Adrian for using the material on his show. And I mustn't forget to thank my Plurk friends who gave up their precious plurking time to listen on the radio or via the net in real time. Finally, a thank you to everyone who found their way to this blog and then managed to sit through the entire interview. To you we raise a beer (or diet Pepsi) to salute you.

So if we're lucky we'll see y'all at the next Grateful We're Not Dead performance.

Well another year for Grateful We're Not Dead has come to an end and we're looking forward to the New Year with enthusiasm. So many people to entertain (or abuse depending upon their taste in music and humour) and so much more beer (and diet Pepsi) to drink.

Now to catch up with the end of 2008.

On November 9 we entertained at the Canadian Future Achievers awards banquet, held at the Parkdale United Church. This was an easy evening of providing some pre-dinner background music and later, some more background music as people were preparing to leave. However, it did give us a chance to try out the sound system that was given to Grateful We're Not Dead by Mike Shea. The equipment provides excellent sound. Thanks again, Mike. As an interesting aside, Grateful We're Not Dead were interviewed that evening by CBC reporter, Julie Ireton. The last we heard the interview is to be aired in January on CBC Radio One, Ottawa. (More info to follow).

On December 12 we entertained at the 14th Annual Music Night Christmas Party hosted by Gord Breedyk and Evelyn Voigt. This is an offshoot of the monthly sing-alongs held in Gord and Evelyn's condo. Music night participants, condo residents and friends are invited to the Christmas Party. The eats are potluck. The liquid refreshments are beer, wine, soft drinks and juices. Did I mention beer? The sing-along is lead mainly by Marg Penniston. Grateful We're Not Dead is the house band and pitch in vocally during the evening with some country Christmas songs such as Santa Looked A Lot Like Daddy, Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer, Here Comes Santa Claus Again, Blue Christmas and Christmas In The Valley. This year we were pleased to have Vicky Streeter from Carleton Place sit in with us. She has a fantastic voice and Grateful We're Not Dead plan to work with her some more in the New Year. As usual, Marie Rakos was on the piano to help us through some of the convoluted chord structures one finds in the Christmas carols. Mel Sanshagrin sat in on acoustic guitar and vocals for the entire evening and John Hunt provided his baritone throughout the night. Many thanks to others unnamed who jumped in to help over the evening.

On December 18 Grateful We're Not Dead did a Christmas show at a group residence on Merivale Road complete with our Christmas hats. Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures from that event. The evening seemed to be much appreciated by the residents and we hope we can return to entertain in the future.

Most other major events that we participated in have been reported elsewhere on the blog. However, there were numerous smaller events such as birthday parties and Peace Conference sessions that we also entertained at. These events, though small, keep us on our toes and prompt us to pick up our instruments occasionally to practice (although sometimes to hear us you wouldn't know it).

I mentioned earlier that we plan on working with Vicky Streeter this Spring. Vicky belongs to the Lanark County Western Horse Club and is responsible for some of the fund raising. She has asked us to record a garage CD of her original material and Grateful We're Not Dead original material to sell to club members, friends and relatives (with a lot of stress on relatives) to raise funds. So we'll be working on that over the next couple months.

Well, that's a wrap and at this time I'd like to wish y'all a Happy New Year and a successful 2009 to you and yours from Grateful We're Not Dead.